2004 Annual Report of the Public Relations Office

As a part of the directorate of Development and Communication, the Public Relations Office made significant contributions to 2004’s “Year of Stewardship.” An overview of its activities appears below. The Diocesan website—a major undertaking of the Communications directorate, and an important facility of the Diocese in general—is also covered.

General 2004 Activities

Throughout 2004, the PR office operated with two full-time staffers. The office generated more than 250 press releases; 100 ceremonial letters or messages; 60 speeches and sermons; 90 pieces of official (paper) correspondence; and 30 print advertisements. An estimated 350 photos went out to various papers and media outlets—generally as e-mailed electronic images. General e-mail correspondence —to individuals asking questions, requesting services, or offering comments—numbered in the thousands.

Alerting the American and Armenian press about holy days (e.g. Armenian Christ­mas, Easter, Martyrs Day) remains an ongoing duty. The PR office also contacted journalists in local parish areas when the Primate visited, resulting in a number of print stories and some television and radio coverage.

The public relations coordinator also takes on various editorial duties. Several manuscripts were submitted for formatting, layout, or general editorial handling. As an additional duty, the PR coordinator frequently composes remarks for members of the Diocesan staff and Diocesan Council.

Stories and Projects

Publications: These included two issues of The Armenian Church magazine (editorial consultation); the production of the Diocese’s third public-distribu­tion Annual Report; and the annual calendar (see below). All were sent to the full Diocesan mailing list—some 55,000 households. The office also did editorial work on a religious education manuscript, and on several other manuscripts awaiting publication.

Diocesan Calendar—2005 Edition: The four-color calendar depicting, in text and images, milestones in the history of the Armenian alphabet, on the 1600th anniversary of its invention, was titled, That Men May Know Wisdom: Armenian Letters Through the Ages / 1600 Years of the Armenian Alphabet: From Mesrob Mashdots to the Modern Era.

Catholicos Vasken I 10th Anniversary Memorial: The PR office oversaw the promotion and production of ads for the event (Dec. 5), and collaborated on an booklet commemorating the legacy of Catholicos Vasken, of blessed memory.

Other significant undertakings of the year included: Ongoing promotion, pro­duction, and editorial work on the Diocese’s “Year of Stewardship”; producing letters, ads, and promotional material for the “Archbishop’s Annual Appeal”; drafting official public alerts on the status of Armenians in Iraq, including the Diocese’s humanitarian assistance effort (Jan., Sep.); the purchase, opening, and blessing of the Ararat Center (Jan., Jul.); collaborating with staff on materials to guide viewers of the film, The Passion of the Christ (Feb.); promotion of two priestly ordinations (Feb., Apr.); promotion and editorial consultation for the groundbreaking of the “His Holiness Karekin I Theological Center” at St. Nersess Seminary (Jun.); participation in a cathedral prayer service for the late President Ronald Reagan (Jun.); consultations with the staff of the Fund for Armenian Relief, regarding public-relations ideas; editorial work for an inter-church conference at the Vatican (Sep.); drafting public alerts and materials for relief to the victims of the Sudan genocide (Apr.) and the southeast Asian tsunami (Dec.); initial promotional and organizing efforts for the upcoming observance of the 90th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

The Diocesan Website—www.armenianchurch.org

In 2004, the Diocesan website saw increased use, with more visitors, more interaction, more donations, and more new features. In 2004 the website welcomed 96,201 visitors—up substantially from 74,710 visitors in 2003.

The most viewed portions of our website in 2004 were the e-cards, followed by our parish listings, news releases, calendar of events, bible readings, and the bulletin boards on our college ministry site: www.college301.org

The Diocesan website team worked on several new additions and improvements to our web presence in 2004. Key among them were:

• A complete redesign of our main website, to allow for easier visits and more interactive content.
• The development of new e-mail newsletters and a redesign of our existing e-newsletter. The html format allows for a cleaner look, more interactive functions, and more information in each screen. Our e-newsletters now include: The Armenian Church On-line bulletin (our flagship weekly e-mail newsletter); Eh-mail (our college ministry e-newsletter); The Armenian Church Educator (a bi-monthly e-mail with resources for local Armenian and Sunday School educators); and The Armenian Church Leader (a bi-monthly e-mail sent to local parish leaders, detailing Diocesan Council actions, programs and publications newly offered by the Diocese). NB: To subscribe to any of these e-mail lists, send your e-mail address to info@armeniandiocese.org
• Online payment and registration for St. Vartan and Hye Camp.
• At the request of delegates, added functionality to search for parishes by metro region, a listing of retired clergy, and a virtual “light a candle” feature.
• Conducting on-line surveys to get reactions to our website and our e-newsletters. The surveys provided a lot of feedback and served as easy two-way communication devices.
• The creation of our College Ministry website—www.college301.org—with interactive bulletin boards, quizzes, and resources for students and parish leaders. (See the College Ministry report elsewhere.)
• The sending of personal Christmas and Thanksgiving e-cards from the Primate to parishioners on our e-mail list. This allowed people to feel a connection with the Diocesan Center during the season.

In 2004, the Diocese also saw an increase in online donations, collecting not only general donations, but also donations for the “Archbishop’s Annual Appeal 2004,” the Ararat Center purchase, Iraqi Armenian aid, and aid for the Sudanese genocide victims. In total we received 67 donations worth $8,405—up from 27 donations totaling $3,318 in 2003. Our average web donation amount also increased, from $122.8 in 2003 to $125.4 in 2004.

Personnel: In 2004, the coordinator of public relations was Christopher H. Zakian; the coordinator of information services was Jake Goshert.